Coaching Youth Basketball - Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 OVERVIEW
This will be the second shortest chapter in the book. You know what supplies you need. You know how to hold tryouts and what drills to use. You know how to pick your team. You know how to avoid future migraines and hair loss. I have only left out one thing:

THE HARDEST THING YOU WILL EVER HAVE TO DO - CUT THE KIDS WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT!!!

The chicken's way out is to put a list on the door of who made it, and run away. These kids deserve better than this. They came to your tryouts with hopes as big as Alaska. They ran their hearts out for you. They gave you everything they've got to give. They deserve better than a list on a door. They deserve better than a phone call.

Pull every kid aside, with their parents, and tell them why they didn't make it. Tell them you are proud of what they did that night and tell them what you would like them to improve on so they can make the team next year. Remind them that even Michael Jordan didn't make the team once.

To put a list on the door is like finding a note on your door at work saying, "YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!" WITHOUT TELLING YOU WHY YOU WERE JUST FIRED. These kids and their parents will appreciate it more this way than any other way you could do it. After you are finished, go find your local bartender, you'll still need them.